For many years, patients receiving intravenous (“IV”) fluid transfusions have been able to remain ambulatory during such transfusions by using mobile IV stands. While walking or moving in a wheelchair, the patient rolls the IV stand alongside him or her within reach of tubings through which intravenous fluids flow from one or more medication containers. However, as explained in more detail below, conventional IV stands have many problems.
Typically, conventional IV stands have casters or wheels that are permanently fixed to a pole base via nuts and bolts. The casters often become defective due to normal wear-and-tear, misuse, accidents, or other factors. For example, contaminants (such as dirt or dust) can accumulate on rotational components of the casters, interfering with the proper multi-directional movement of the IV stand. As a result, the casters lose mobility and tend to be oriented in opposing directions such that the IV stand becomes difficult to control. Often, only a single caster requires replacement to correct this problem. To replace the caster, the IV stand is typically sent to a separate maintenance department, where a designated maintenance worker uses appropriate tools to replace the caster.
The typical procedure for replacing a defective caster presents several problems that are caused by the permanent attachment of the caster to the pole base. One problem is that it is sometimes not feasible to remove the IV stand while it is coupled to a patient. Thus, the replacement of a defective caster must be delayed until the IV stand is no longer required by the patient, or until an appropriate replacement is located.
The delay in replacing the defective caster can have potentially disastrous consequences. For example, if the patient attempts to move, the IV stand can tip over and cause severe injury to the patient by pulling out catheters inserted in the patient's body and coupled to IV containers (e.g., medication bags) supported by the IV stand. Similarly, a falling IV stand can cause damage and/or injury to other nearby objects and people.
Although the defective IV stand can be replaced with a properly functioning IV stand, this presents additional problems. For example, replacing the IV stand presents the risk that an IV bag may be dropped and, potentially, break. In some cases, there can be multiple IV tubes from multiple IV bags connected to a patient. Further complicating IV stand replacement, other equipment such as pumps and monitors are often attached to the IV stand and need to be turned on and off to be properly transferred from one IV stand to another.
The increased labor requirements for repairing broken casters and/or transferring IV bags and equipment from one IV stand to another IV stand greatly increases medical costs. In addition, valuable hospital space is wasted to store more IV stands than are truly necessary, and patient safety is potentially risked every time IV bags are transferred from a defective IV stand to another IV stand.
Another problem associated with conventional IV stands is that they typically include multiple pole sections that can rotate relative to one another. As a result, the tubes extending from the IV containers to the patient can become entangled or wrapped around the pole, reducing the slack of the tubes between the patient and the IV stand. Eventually, the tubes can pull on the patient causing discomfort or pain where the IV is inserted into the patient. Worse still, the tubes may be accidentally and painfully removed from the patient.
Thus, a need exists for an IV stand with casters that can be quickly replaced, without the use of tools. Another need exists to prevent the relative rotation between pole sections of an IV stand.